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Figwit
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Post Tips & Tool 2.0 - The Unfinished Tales Edition
on: October 05, 2005 01:23
For a lot of readers, reading The Silmarillion already was quite a task: it's written in a very old-fashioned style, and contains a great number of names and dates that you need to remember to understand all the small stories it contains.

Unfinished Tales digs for the roots of the stories in The Silmarillion, and so deepens the confusion and adds t the list of names.

This thread contains some tips that helped me and others through 'The Silmarillion' and helpful links, that will make reading and keeping track of everything that's being said a lot easier.

~*Tips on Reading*~
~ The point of the Book Club is to come to some sort of understanding of what the books are about. So when you start reading, don't stress! Take your time.
I'd advise you to read each chapter twice: first read it for your enjoyment, and the second time read it in more detail. Try to understand what is said. If English isn't your first language, you can always look up some words, or try to find a copy in your own language.
~ Find a good environment to read, where you're not distracted too often Some examples: the train, the library or your bed. Lunch break, the office or while babysitting are probably not the best places to read anything, and certainly not a book like The Silmarillion.
~ Take notes. Helps all the time! Personally, I have two copies of each Tolkien book I have: an expensive one for just reading, and a cheap one (mostly second hand) in which I can write and underline. If you can't find a cheap second version, you can always buy a small notebook.
It's just easy for writing down explications of words (especially when English isn't your first language), but also for keeping track of names, places and events.
~ In the back of most editions, there's an index with names. When in doubt, look the name up. Once you get further into the book, you can make a list with names that occur often, with a small reminder of who they are.
~ Some editions of The Silmarillion have a large map of Beleriand in them. If you don't, you can always print one (there are links to maps under ~*Links*~ ). To have your own copy can be useful to keep it clear geographically. You can also write down the names of the Kings and Lords of the different lands an regions, which makes the story a little easier to follow.


~*General Links*~
~ CoE's own Encyclopedia in Elrond's Library is one of the best on-line encyclopedia's around. If you want to find out more about a character, you can always look it up there, but the entries may hold some spoilers for the rest of the book!
~ The Middle-Earth Section of Elrond's Library has a lot of articles on various aspects of Tolkien's work. Most interesting for us are of course the Family Trees.
~ Our Gallery has some good general maps. The following maps may come in handy: Beleriand, Valinor and NĂºmenor. To get a better idea of where Beleriand lies, you can compare it to the map of Middle-earth.
(Note: these maps are quite large, so they may take some time to load.)
~ For those who would like a clearer view on the different kinships, Aervir kindly sent me the link to a Genealogy Chart in PDF.
~ You can find a Silmarillion Chronology on line, though I have no idea how accurate it is. But it seems accurate enough, and it gives you an idea of the timeframes.
~ Every week I will post some specific links for each chapter .


If you know any other good resources, please pm me!
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